eddibabyyeah

I have just booked a AUH-BKK with EY miles for December and was offered the chauffeur. Even though I am not sure of the location in BKK I booked the Hilton as the destination. They are always pretty good in Bangkok and have twice recently allowed me to change the destination when I arrived.

Zol

Just flew out of AMS in J yesterday and they sent a "taxi" to pick me up from the hotel. The car was a Skoda, is this normal?

Journey4Happy

Nobody answered @Astrophsx .

I've got an AA award flight in J AUH-LAX, but when I "manage my booking", it says I am eligible for chauffer service (from Dubai, not LAX). It will allow me to submit a request (haven't done it yet, because I don't know my address in Dubai yet).

So will I get denied? Is this a glitch? Or have the rules changed?

Astrophsx

I was under the impression that if you were flying AA it wouldn't let you attempt to book, but I guess we might have to wait for a new data point.

domino007

Yes - that is right. Anything booked with AA miles is ineligible for Chauffeur - even if the ticket on "www.virtuallythere.com" says otherwise. Have a J class ticket for Apr 28 on LAX - AUH

Astrophsx

Right, they are asking if you attempt to book the chauffeur does it allow you to at least put in the request. They are trying to see if there was a glitch/mistake. If so, maybe they might accidentally allow them to get the service.

Paulchili

Unfortunately, you will not get the limo.
Currently in AUH and flying to LAX in AM in J with AA miles. Booked 11 months ago. Have been able to request the limo online (3 times - first time 11 months ago) but never got the e mail confirmation. Called today from AUH and was informed that AA award flights are not eligible for limo.
It is my impression that this is a relatively new policy (not sure when it was changed) but I am pretty sure that when I booked this award the limo service was available for AA miles awards. Etihad claims that because my flight time changed (by 10 minutes) and that triggered a ticket re-issue which happened after the new policy. My appeal that the policy was in effect when I made the original booking fell on deaf ears.
A shame really - we're talking small amount of money (in my case less than $20) but the principle here is bigger.
Shame on you Etihad.
PS Does anyone know when the policy was changed?

Paulchili

Update to my post above.
Spent the afternoon in the hotel (as we've been here a couple of times before and it was 104 outside).
Trying to confirm my limo service.
Called EY - service denied as described above. A couple of hours later I received a text message confirming my limo and also a phone message confirming the pick up from limo river. The numbers left to call back could not be reached. Contacted EY again - which is the case - limo or no limo? Answer from EY - no limo.
This evening received an e mail from EY confirming the pick up.
Apparently a case of the right hand not knowing what the left one is doing.
The definite answer will come in AM at 5:35 to see if there is a limo
PS After the 2 denials from EY I went to an ATM to get cash for a taxi - now I may be "stuck" with it in the airport trying to spend it. Chocolate covered dates did the trick the last time for left over cash - it just may be the answer again

hotlanta777777

does this mean that as long as youre flying business you get to avail of this service? we're staying for half a day at jumeirah also because of our J class booking. thanks.

HawaiiO

Only for some business fares.
Doesnt apply if u are on "Business saver" fares.

The other business fares allow chauffeur service.

OpenSky

There are two sides to this story. I have been an EY flyer for many years. EY started offering the limo to everyone in the beginning, 5-7 years ago, as long as you had a premium class ticket, regardless of how you got it. As can be expected, that got abused, and EY cut this to EY guest redemptions only, not AA, in addition to all paid tickets on EY. Then EY cut this further, the limo is only available on W class or higher only. Z class gets no limo. I should note in come markets discounted business Z class costs thousands, and is still not a cheap ticket.

Anyway, it was great while it lasted. Considering Etihad does not offer the limo to discounted business class ( paid, Z class ) ticket holders, why would they offer the limo to AA mileage redemption ticket holders? ( who basically paid nothing, other than lots of AA miles) For the millionth time, no the policy has not changed.

I imagine Etihad would offer the limo to discounted business class ticket holders first that paid for their ticket with cash before they allow AA freeloaders. That doesn't stop people from shamelessly walking to the limo desk at AUH and JFK to demand their limos . You can try that. Sometimes the clueless EY staff may assign you a car, but usually there is reservation sheet, with you name attached as well as the destination. The reservation info and destination gets sent to the driver assigned electronically, to a phone like GPS device in the car, and its linked up to a text messaging service, similar to what Emirates uses.


In some markets, ( London) you can pay for the Etihad limo service in any class of service.

Paulchili

The bottom line is that the limo was there this morning.
Why would you assume that my AA award ticket was free? How do you know how I earned those miles? Maybe it took me flying many thousand miles for many thousands of $$$ or spending many thousands of $$$$ on my credit card to earn them. I any case, I paid for them one way or another and they were not free. And EY got reimbursed for them from AA. I am sure they are not in the business of losing money - they would not offer these awards to AA if they were losing money.
The taxi fare from Hyat Capital Gate is around $20. Both Etihad and I can easily afford it but if they want to be a step above other elite airlines, they can spend that $20 without much trouble and create a goodwill gesture for the future - especially when that was part of the deal when I booked my flight.
That is all that I am going to say on this subject - not worth any more effort on my part.

tangey

Etihad withdrew limo service for AA issued award flights on the 10th of Aug. If you had a flight and limo booked before then, you were ok. But if the flight was changed or booked after aug 2016, limo wasn't available.

So it's really interesting that some are able to book the limo on AA booked award flights, and clearly there is some confusion in different departments.

Etihad actually withdrew limo service for some of its business class tickets BEFORE it withdrew the service for AA booked award flights.

Here is an article from insider flyer written at the time the policy changed for AA booked awards. For transparency, I wrote the article.

https://insideflyer.co.uk/2016/08/aa...mptions-again/

lcpteck

If I book an F award flight using non-AA or EY miles, am I eligible for this service?

stargold

At the moment, only Z class and AA awards are excluded.